Cadet Edward
by Hikari102490
Summary: Ed and Al are in the color guard for the military academy, with Riza Hawkeye and Roy Mustang as their instructors, oh the possibilities. Note: the events of FMA didn't happen, and therefor Al is human...and always has been.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or its characters, they belong to Hiromu Arakawa...and since I'm disclaiming, I would like to add that I don't know anything about being in color guard, so if I get something wrong, I'm sorry, I'm going off of youtube videos and websites...**

**Summary: Ed and Al are in the color guard for the military academy, with Riza Hawkeye and Roy Mustang as their instructors, oh the possibilities. Note: the events of FMA didn't happen, and therefor Al is human...and always has been. **

**A/N: This is dedicated to Zanzibar1 for giving me review number 75! As I've already mentioned, I don't know anything about color guard, so this is going to be based off of what I saw in a couple of videos (including the movie Cadet Kelly) and what I read in a couple of articles. Please enjoy! **

**Cadet Edward**

It was midday and Edward and Alphonse Elric were headed to their color guard practice. King Bradley Military Academy, in Central, Amestris, was known for its outstanding achievements in academics, and their color guard team was no exception.

"What do you think we'll be learning today, Brother?" asks Al. Ed shrugs.

"Probably more of the routine. The tournament is in a couple of months, and you know how Mustang and Hawkeye are, they want our routine to be perfect," says Ed, sighing heavily. Ed and Al had joined the color guard at their mother's request. She had felt that they should do some form of extra curricular activity after school. Ed and Al hadn't liked the idea of sports, and none of the clubs really interested them, so they had decided to give the color guard a try.

Of course, deciding to join the color guard was one thing, but becoming members was a whole other matter. They'd had to take a training course for a week before performing two different routines; one being with a group, and the other being by themselves. Ed and Al had passed, easily, their martial arts training having come in at an advantage.

When they get to the field, the other members of the team were going warm up while Hawkeye watched. Mustang was nowhere to be seen, but he usually showed up at the last minute. Ed and Al walk over to Riza.

"Hey there, boys, are you ready for a tough day?" asks Riza. "We're going to go over what we have so far and add to it."

"I think we can handle it," says Ed, confidently. Just then, Winry runs over and tackles Edward into a hug, almost knocking him over.

"Hey!" she says, excitedly. "You're here."

"Get off," complains Ed, pushing Winry away before turning and glaring at her.

"Hello, Winry. How long have you been here?" asks Al.

"Not very long," says Winry. "Are you two looking forward to practice today?"

"Not really," says Ed, as he follows Al and Winry out to the field so that they could stretch. As they were stretching, Mustang walks onto the field pulling a cart full of boxes.

"Okay, listen up!" calls Mustang. Once he had everyone's attention, he begins to speak again. "I want you all to line up in front of me. We'll be practicing with rifles today." An excited buzz surrounds the group as everyone awaits their turn to get their rifles. Up until that point everyone had been using flags and banners so that they could get used to the feel of twirling, throwing, and catching an object without hurting themselves.

"This is so exciting," squeals Winry, quietly. Al nods, eagerly.

"What do you think, brother?" asks Al.

"I don't like guns," says Ed.

"Ed, they're not even real," says Winry, just as two students walk past with their rifles.

"Really? Those look pretty real to me," says Ed.

"Well, they're not loaded," says Winry, weakly. Ed sighs heavily as they reach the front of the line. Al receives his rifle, along with instructions, first, before stepping aside to wait for Ed and Winry. Ed was next, and when he stepped up, Roy handed him a rifle.

"Your rifle is number 75, remember that, so that you don't get it mixed up with your brother's. If anything happens to it, I'm holding you responsible, even if it isn't your fault. So if, for example, Al took your rifle by mistake and accidentally broke something on it, you're the one I'm coming to, not him. Got it?" says Roy, as he writes something on a clipboard.

"Yeah, I got it, bastard," says Ed. Roy – used to Ed calling him a 'bastard' – ignores him and holds out the clipboard and a pen.

"Sign this. It's the contract saying that I told you that you were responsible for that rifle," says Roy, as Ed takes the pen and signs his name. "Riza will tell you how to properly care for the rifle." Ed doesn't say anything as he walks over to stand next to Al.

"My number is 23," says Al.

"Okay, well keep that in mind. I'm not paying for something you did," warns Ed, as Winry skips over to them with her rifle.

"I got number 59," she says proudly, as they begins walking over to Riza, who was handing out small kits.

"These are cleaning kits for the rifles," says Riza, as she hands one to Ed, Al, and Winry. "Just because the rifles don't hold bullets – and I made sure to fix them so that they can't – doesn't mean that you don't have to care for them properly." After they all learned how to care for their rifles, it was time for practice to begin.

"Okay, get into positions! We're going to do a run through of what we have so far, and then we'll go from there," orders Riza.

Once everyone was in position, Riza turns on the music and the routine begins with Ed, Al, and five of the girls taking up various positions that looked better suited for Pilates or gymnastics, before each of them – individually – stand up and begin spinning out and away from their group. From there, the whole team forms a plus sign in the middle of the field, before doing a few jumps and spins and bending to pick up their flags in a graceful sweep.

Riza and Mustang watch with critical eyes as the students break out of the cross and form three rows as they begin spinning their flags, as they, themselves spin and leap.

The routine was meant to depict a battle, in which the handful of students, now left with their flags, after the group had performed the next sequence of steps, would go against the students who would be picking up their rifles, but that had yet to be taught, so after they had dropped their flags, everyone stops to look at Riza and Roy expectantly.

"Very good! You're definitely ready to move on," says Riza. "Those of you still holding your flags may put them down and pick up a rifle. We're going to practice throwing and catching them."

After about half an hour, Roy calls out a five minute break. Ed, Al, and Winry walk over to the water cooler and get a cup of water. "They weren't kidding about today being tough," says Al, as they go and sit on the grass.

"It's fun though," says Winry.

"Tch, there are way better things I could be doing right now, besides dancing around, holding a flag," says Ed, arrogantly.

"Oh yeah, like what?" asks Winry.

"Like studying, or reading," says Ed.

"I knew you were going to say that," grumbles Winry. Just then Roy walks over.

"Edward, Alphonse, I need to ask you boys a question," says Roy.

"Of course you do," grumbles Ed, before taking a drink of his water.

"How flexible are the two of you?" asks Roy, causing Ed to spit his water out, all over the front of Winry's shirt. Winry screams before picking up her rifle and hitting Ed in the head with the butt of it.

Ed ducks down, with his head in his hands, as he whimpers. "Damn, Win, that really hurt," groans Ed.

"You should have thought of that before you spit your water all over me," retorts Winry, crossing her arms over her chest and looking away.

"This is all your fault, Bastard," complains Ed, as he sits up straight and glares at Roy, while rubbing his head. "What the hell sort of a question is that?"

"Get your mind out of the gutter, kid. It wasn't meant like that and you know it," says Roy, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring back at Ed. Al looks at Ed and giggles.

"Shut-up Al," grumbles Ed, blushing profusely. "And to answer your question, perv; I'm pretty flexible. Do you need some sort of demonstration?"

"Yeah, show me what you've got," says Roy.

"This better not be some way for you to check me out," mumbles Ed.

"I assure you, it isn't," says Roy, watching as Ed proceeds to show him his flexibility by doing a series of poses. "Okay, Al, what about you?"

"Hey! Don't be trying to check out my brother, you perv," accuses Ed, which only earns him another smack to the head by Winry's rifle.

"Stop giving our coach a hard time, Ed," chastises Winry, as Ed lays, curled up, rubbing his head. Al does the same moves as Edward had, but somehow he had managed to pull them off a bit more smoothly and graceful.

"Okay, thank you. I'll probably be having the two of you perform a series of moves in the routine since the two of you are more flexible than the others," says Roy, before walking away. Ed sighs heavily as Al sits back down and takes a drink of his water.

"This should look really neat when its all done," says Al, thoughtfully. "It's no wonder our school is the best."

"Yeah, they work us like dogs," says Ed.

"It's not that bad, teacher was harder on us than our coaches," says Al.

"That's true," says Ed.

"Okay, back to work! We're going to practice throwing and catching the rifles a little bit more before we learn a few more steps to the routine!" shouts Riza.

By the end of the day everybody was worn out. "That was a great practice everybody! Don't forget to practice at home! The next practice will be in the gymnasium, the day after tomorrow!" explains Riza.

"Also, your uniforms came in, so stop by my classroom tomorrow after school to pick them up!" shouts Roy.

"You're all dismissed!" shouts Riza, before turning her attention to Roy.

Ed, Al, and Winry walk off of the field and begin walking towards their apartment complex. "That was a good practice," says Winry. "I can't wait to show Granny my rifle."

"Our mom will be interested in the newest part of the routine," says Al.

"She'll probably demand that we show her right away," says Ed, chuckling.

"Yeah. We'd better hurry home, practice ran a little late," says Al.

"Mom will be getting worried," says Al.

"Race you!" says Winry, excitedly, already picking up her pace. "Ready, set, go!" she shouts, before taking off running, with Ed and Al not far behind.

"Hey, you cheated!" accuses Al.

"Get back here!" demands Ed, as they run towards home.

End Chapter

**A/N: BOOOOOOO...okay this sort of sucked. -sobs- I'm sorry Zanzibar1! I even watched youtube videos of color guard, trying to get a feel for it, but I'm just clueless...if you really hate it, let me know and I'll try something different...its not much of a prize if you dislike it...to everyone else...I'm sorry for making you read my piece of fail. Please review and tell me what you think...NO FLAMES! (that ought to decrease how many reviews I get...if any) Sayonara! =]**


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